To all the folks that are encouraging our visitor from the frozen North to bring his handgun(s) with him:
First of all, the bus company (is there any national interstate carrier left besides Greyhound?) does not allow gun in checked or hand-carried baggage. I have no information about the intrastate and regional companies but am willing to put a few bucks down saying they have similar rules. Second, if he does not have a Massachusetts FOID card he cannot even posses a handgun there. If my memory serves me right, he will most likely transfer busses in Boston or Springfield, depending on which way he is going. He needs a LTC to transport anything he legally posseses in that state. Third, he will most likely be travelling via I-95 which means he passes through Connecticut where he needs a state permit to posses, and then NY State, where he needs a licence to posses, and through NYC where he needs a city license as they do not recognize licenses from the rest of the state. Bet he has to transfer busses at the Port Authority Terminal. Then he goes through New Jersey where he needs a NJ license. Recall all the folks who got nailed transferring planes there? Then Deleware, where he may or may not be safe. After that he enters Maryland where he again needs a state license (virtually unobtainable) to carry in his carry-on baggage as it will be considered concealed, and if his magazine is loaded he has broken another law. Then he hits DC, where he gets off the bus. It takes months to process the paperwork to register a handgun that you are only allowed to keep in your home. It's not until he crosses the Potomac that he reaches the land of the free.
FOPA will not cover him if only because of his getting off the bus in DC. Remember the tourist who got nailed for having firearms in his travel trailer? If he had not stopped to see the sights he might have gotten away clean because nobody would have seen his firearms.
On top of everything else, TSA has been in the news over deploying VIPR teams at bus stations. That means some risk of getting probulated anywhere along the line, even if it is not a station where he intended to get off te bus.
Yes, FOPA should cover him, but the reality is that most of the states he needs to travel through do not recognize that. As well as the bus companies not recognizing his right to keep and bear as he travels.
stay safe.